Remote acoustical speakers used with various audio systems are typically interconnected with their audio system by means of multiple conductors. Each of the conductors is releasably received in a separate connector that is attached to a respective one of each of the speakers. These separate connectors usually include an opening through which one of the conductors is inserted and a button or lever that is depressed to move a contact within the opening to one side so that the conductor can be fully inserted. When the button or lever is released, a spring urges the movable contact across the opening so that it picks up the conductor and presses it against a fixed contact to make the desired electrical connection. Each single speaker requires two such electrical connections and, therefore, two individual connectors. Speaker hook-up wire is usually provided as integrated pairs of conductors, similar to lamp wire, the ends of each conductor must be stripped and split away from the other conductor sufficiently far to allow manipulation of the individual conductors during insertion into their respective connectors. The buttons or levers that actuate the movable contacts are bulky and usually are pivotally coupled to the connector so that they are difficult to aesthetically integrate into the speaker housing.
What is needed is a single speaker connector having contacts for receiving both speaker conductors by depressing a single actuating button and then electrically engaging and holding the two conductors upon release of the button. And the connector should lend itself to aesthetic integration into the speaker enclosure. Further, the means for returning the actuating button to its non-depressed state should be independent of the resilient members that grip and make electrical contact with the conductors, even where the conductors are of different sizes.